Studio suspends "Office," "30 Rock" actors

Steve Carell (C) laughs along with other members of ''The Office'' cast including Jenna Fischer (L), Phyllis Smith, (2rd R, in glasses) and Kate Flannery (2nd R) on the set in Panorama City, California, January 11, 2007.
REUTERS/Danny Moloshok

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - As the writers strike nears the end of its second week with no resolution in sight, the most dreaded phrase in Hollywood is making the rounds: force majeure.

Producer Universal Media Studios on Thursday began notifying the regulars on NBC's "Bionic Woman," "The Office" and "30 Rock" that the studio is suspending them on half-pay for five weeks, citing the force majeure provisions in their Screen Actors Guild (SAG) contracts.

While deals with actors allow for the force majeure -- or "greater force" -- option right after production is suspended, such a contract clause could be invoked for writers very soon if the strike continues. Most writers' production deals trigger the termination clause four to six weeks into a stoppage, but in some, the cushion is said to be only two weeks.

That means that as of Monday, studios could start terminating their overall pacts with writers.

Since the beginning of the strike on November 5, TV studios have been debating how to deal with series regulars -- whether to invoke the force majeure clause that allows them to terminate actors for unanticipated or uncontrollable reasons put them on hiatus or do something else.

On Friday, Sony Pictures TV took a different tack, notifying the regulars on two of the sitcoms it produces-- Fox's "'Til Death" and CBS' "Rules of Engagement" -- that they are being put on unpaid hiatus, remaining exclusive to the studio.

That move didn't sit well with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), which represents the two shows, or with SAG.

Both unions called putting actors on unpaid hiatus a violation of the SAG-AFTRA joint TV contract, which expires June 30, and vowed to take action against it.

According to SAG's interpretation of Section 61 of its collective bargaining agreement, the studios have three options in case of a strike: put series regulars on hold at full salary, suspend them for a period of up to five weeks at half-pay or terminate them.

If, like Universal, the studios opt for suspension, the performers themselves, according to SAG, can terminate their deals at the end of the five-week period. If they don't do that, the studios can choose to keep the regulars with full pay or end their deals.

Upon termination, actors are no longer paid and are free to do other projects. When production on the shows resumes, they are guaranteed to be rehired by the studios under the original terms of their deals.

The actors have to make an effort to accommodate the series, but their new projects are in first position. That would work well for in-demand-actors like "The Office" star Steve Carell, who can go off to do a movie without having to worry that an end of the strike would cut short his shoot.

During hiatus, however, actors must drop whatever they might be doing and report to their series immediately if those shows resume.

At least two other TV studios have been toying with the idea of putting actors on hiatus, but none has triggered that option since SAG and AFTRA's stern reaction to Sony's letters.

Meanwhile, a letter sent earlier this week to employees by Warner Bros. TV, was making the rounds Thursday. It estimates that, if the writers strike continues, all of its series -- which include "ER," "Without A Trace," "Cold Case" and the promising rookie "Pushing Daisies" -- will shut down in the next six to seven weeks, possibly leading to a loss of jobs.

"We currently anticipate that such layoffs, if they occur, will be temporary and that many employees will be recalled to work at some point after the WGA work stoppage ends," wrote Hank Lachmund, the studio's senior vp labor relations.

Actor Judge Reinhold was released from a Dallas jail late on Thursday night following his arrest for causing a disturbance at a local airport after refusing to be screened at a security checkpoint, police said on Friday.

LOS ANGELES Modern musical "La La Land," independent drama "Moonlight" and sci-fi movie "Arrival" were among the diverse genres selected as the year's best films by the American Film Institute (AFI) on Thursday.

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